The Wise Man And The Tiny House
There’s an old song about the wise and the foolish man. Goes something like … ‘the Foolish man built his house upon the sand … and the house came tumbling down … the Wise man built his house upon a rock … and the house on the rock stood still.’ – Or something like that. (If you know the tune, ya gotta sing it!)
It’s an interesting metaphor that takes on a slightly different meaning when thinking about the foundation (trailer) for a Tiny House.
Yet, that’s what it is. You build a house on a foundation — and Tiny Houses are no different. The tiny house foundation IS the trailer, so it’s got to stand up to the environment — which includes rolling down the highway (over potholes, and other road debris).
Engineering Tiny House Trailers
At Synthesis, I get calls fairly frequently from people asking about trailers for a tiny house. The questions vary, of course, but the essence is often about “what can I get away with for a trailer?” Not so unlike sand, an insufficient trailer will not make a solid foundation or stable platform to build your house on.
My Questions Are: How long do you want it to last? How much trouble do you want to deal with? The answers to these 2 questions (never asked directly) drive the design.
The Tiny House Trailer has to deal with a lot of different things that other trailers don’t, so the design must to consider these conditions.
Tiny House Weight / Trailer Load Capacity
This is a tough one to grapple with. How much does a tiny house weigh? So many variables, and so much to consider. Does it have water or black storage tanks? How many and what size of batteries? Appliances? Compact is the reality and very nature of the tiny house, which means tighter and denser than a typical house. Also, being road worthy requires an extra level of sturdiness. How much does that all weigh? Truly, it varies, and every house plan I’ve seen is unique, so you’ll need to do the math. However, from what we’ve seen, something in the neighborhood of 500# per linear foot is not out of the question. Some are more, some less — so don’t use this number and think you’re OK. Go back to the wise man song. The wise man also considers just how much rock is needed for his house to withstand the storms.
Take the weight information and it will point you to the right tiny house foundation. You’ll need one that exceeds whatever you calculate as the need.
The New “Rock” To Build On
So, on that note, let’s introduce the new “Rock” and it’s big brother. Our latest DIY project is an amazing Tiny House Foundation — a trailer designed specifically for Tiny Houses. It’s designed to be really strong, easy to build, and to last (as the song says) … the Tiny House on the rock stands still.
These particular trailers are 100″ width (allowing for siding overlap and still be legal). And, they have 20′ or 24′ bed lengths. Other features include a max capacity of 14,000 lbs, and low deck height with an integrated floor for even more headroom. As I speak to Tiny House creators, deck height is usually very high on the priority list. So, this new trailer not only has a low deck height, it has the house floor integrated with the frame to absolutely minimize the true floor height.
Most important to this discussion, this Tiny House trailer minimizes deflection in all conditions even with the lower deck. See the discussion about deflection in our previous post. It’s well strong enough, but more important, it’s stiff, and if it’s built with care, it will make a very stable Tiny House Foundation.
It’s Your Turn – The Tiny House Foundation
If the most important thing to get “right” for your new home is the tiny house foundation, this new “Rock” is a great choice. DIY plans are available for purchase and immediate download. Select the size you want here. (Tiny House Foundation Trailers are down the page slightly.)
We invite you to have a look and let us know what you think.
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April 3, 2018 @ 1:40 PM
I’m a 61 year old single woman and I’ve been gearing up to build my own shed for quite some time now. I sell antiques and remodified product out of my home. ( which is overloaded while waiting for someone to buy) so I need storage, but would like it to look like a little shop where I can sell out of my front yard. I need to be able to move this shed to my side yard because I rent and do not have a garage.
I will need to find a trailer base to build on since I won’t be able to weld. I make many things out of used items and had an idea of using old steal bed rails. But from what I read in your “building a trailer” link it probably won’t work and all that work I put into it will set me up for failure. So I decided to see if you had any ideas on what kind of base to look for so I can build on it. Can I find a used one? How do I tell if it is good?
Thanks a bunch Marianne
April 4, 2018 @ 10:04 PM
Thanks for writing. If I were you, I’d look for a used enclosed trailer so you don’t have to build anything, and it will be water tight right from the start. You can modify the back end door area to make it like a front porch store front. My 2-Bits. Good Luck.